Unfortunately we were not able to subscribe you to our newsletter. Please do try again later.

Follow us

Donate to the Gallery

£ 5£ 20£ other

Make this a monthly donation

[{"Amount":20.0000,"CurrencyCode":"GBP","DonationDate":"2016-11-10T19:31:19","DonorDisplayName":"Kate English","DonorLocalAmount":20.0000,"DonorLocalCurrencyCode":"GBP","EstimatedTaxReclaim":5.0000,"ImageUrl":"https://www.justgiving.com/content/images/graphics/icons/avatars/facebook-avatar.gif","Message":"What an amazing institution! This is to say thank you for your daily guided tours and the free activities you run for children."},{"Amount":10.0000,"CurrencyCode":"GBP","DonationDate":"2016-08-02T04:18:28","DonorDisplayName":"Suzanne Burke","DonorLocalAmount":10.0000,"DonorLocalCurrencyCode":"GBP","EstimatedTaxReclaim":0.0000,"ImageUrl":"https://www.justgiving.com/content/images/graphics/icons/avatars/facebook-avatar.gif","Message":"Excellent online information for my students!"},{"Amount":5.0000,"CurrencyCode":"GBP","DonationDate":"2016-08-19T23:36:01","DonorDisplayName":"Fangbin Liu","DonorLocalAmount":5.0000,"DonorLocalCurrencyCode":"GBP","EstimatedTaxReclaim":0.0000,"ImageUrl":"https://www.justgiving.com/content/images/graphics/icons/avatars/facebook-avatar.gif","Message":"I like to donate because I love this great museum and the great masterpieces kept in it."},{"Amount":2.0000,"CurrencyCode":"GBP","DonationDate":"2016-10-20T16:29:27","DonorDisplayName":"Joshua Beaumont Houghton Boston","DonorLocalAmount":2.0000,"DonorLocalCurrencyCode":"GBP","EstimatedTaxReclaim":0.0000,"ImageUrl":"https://www.justgiving.com/content/images/graphics/icons/avatars/facebook-avatar.gif","Message":"Thank you for being you!"},{"Amount":10.0000,"CurrencyCode":"GBP","DonationDate":"2016-06-21T09:56:01","DonorDisplayName":"Jane DALY","DonorLocalAmount":10.0000,"DonorLocalCurrencyCode":"GBP","EstimatedTaxReclaim":2.5000,"ImageUrl":"https://www.justgiving.com/content/images/graphics/icons/avatars/facebook-avatar.gif","Message":"A national treasure that needs supporting"},{"Amount":5.0000,"CurrencyCode":"GBP","DonationDate":"2016-11-22T10:18:24","DonorDisplayName":"","DonorLocalAmount":5.0000,"DonorLocalCurrencyCode":"GBP","EstimatedTaxReclaim":0.0000,"ImageUrl":"https://www.justgiving.com/content/images/graphics/icons/avatars/facebook-avatar.gif","Message":"These beautiful artworks belong to us all. Thank you for being custodians of the national collection"},{"Amount":8.3800,"CurrencyCode":"GBP","DonationDate":"2016-09-06T21:24:18","DonorDisplayName":"Andreas","DonorLocalAmount":10.0000,"DonorLocalCurrencyCode":"EUR","EstimatedTaxReclaim":0.0000,"ImageUrl":"https://www.justgiving.com/content/images/graphics/icons/avatars/facebook-avatar.gif","Message":"It is great to visit for free such a prestigious museum. It's a small sum of money but donated willingly, for culture and for young people"},{"Amount":5.0000,"CurrencyCode":"GBP","DonationDate":"2016-11-17T08:56:35","DonorDisplayName":"Katja Leyendecker","DonorLocalAmount":5.0000,"DonorLocalCurrencyCode":"GBP","EstimatedTaxReclaim":1.2500,"ImageUrl":"http://images.justgiving.com/image/87facb53-ce60-4e05-9c8d-fa830c9c523c.jpg?template=profilesummary","Message":"I had a most wonderful 3 hours in the gallery's 1600s section! Must return!"},{"Amount":20.0000,"CurrencyCode":"GBP","DonationDate":"2016-11-16T20:57:11","DonorDisplayName":"Irina ","DonorLocalAmount":20.0000,"DonorLocalCurrencyCode":"GBP","EstimatedTaxReclaim":0.0000,"ImageUrl":"https://www.justgiving.com/content/images/graphics/icons/avatars/facebook-avatar.gif","Message":"One of my favourite museums. Hope to visit again."},{"Amount":10.0000,"CurrencyCode":"GBP","DonationDate":"2016-11-15T16:27:55","DonorDisplayName":"Janet Scott","DonorLocalAmount":10.0000,"DonorLocalCurrencyCode":"GBP","EstimatedTaxReclaim":2.5000,"ImageUrl":"https://www.justgiving.com/content/images/graphics/icons/avatars/facebook-avatar.gif","Message":"The wonderful National Gallery deserves all the support it can get."}]

Share this page

Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Renoir was one of the leading painters of the Impressionist group. He evolved a technique of broken brushstrokes and used bold combinations of pure complementary colours, to capture the light and movement of his landscapes and figure subjects. Following a visit to Italy in 1881 his style changed, becoming more linear and classical.

Renoir was born in Limoges in south-west France, where he began work as a painter on porcelain. He moved to Paris, joining the studio of the fashionable painter Charles Gleyre in around 1861-2. Courbet influenced the young Renoir. In Paris he encountered other painters, notably Monet and Sisley, who were later to become Impressionists. In 1869 he and Monet worked together sketching on the Seine, and Renoir began to use lighter colours.

Around the 1880s Renoir travelled abroad, visiting Italy, Holland, Spain, England, Germany and North Africa. He deeply admired works by Raphael, Velázquez, and Rubens, and the latter's influence may be seen in his works.

Renoir's work seems always to be about pleasurable occasions, and reveals no great seriousness in his subjects. He apparently shocked his teacher Gleyre by saying, 'if painting were not a pleasure to me I should certainly not do it'.